Forcadell arrives at the Supreme Court in Madrid yesterday to be questioned over her role in Catalonia’s independence drive.

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AFP/Madrid

The speaker of Catalonia’s sacked parliament appeared before Spain’s Supreme Court yesterday in the latest legal case brought against separatist leaders for their role in the region’s divisive independence bid.A judge may decide to detain Carme Forcadell and five former Catalan lawmakers on charges of sedition, rebellion and misuse of public funds after Catalonia’s parliament voted last month to split from Spain.They are suspected of having followed a “concerted strategy to declare independence”, before the official declaration on October 27, deepening Spain’s most serious political crisis in decades.That declaration was annulled on Wednesday by Spain’s Constitutional Court.The Catalan crisis has prompted hundreds of businesses to re-register outside the wealthy northeastern region and caused disquiet in a European Union still dealing with Britain’s shock decision to leave the bloc.On Wednesday, a general strike called in Catalonia by a pro-independence union triggered widespread travel chaos, cutting Spain’s main highway link to France and the rest of Europe and disrupting trains from Barcelona to Paris, Marseille and Lyon.Authorities said around 150,000 people were affected.Encouraged by their figurehead Carles Puigdemont, Catalan leaders voted to declare unilateral independence from Spain after going ahead with a banned referendum on October 1.Separatists said 90% of voters opted for independence, but critics counter that pro-unity supporters had boycotted a plebiscite that violated Spain’s constitution.In response, the government of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy suspended Catalan autonomy, dismissing its parliament and government, and organised new regional elections for December 21.A judge in Madrid last week ordered that eight members of Puigdemont’s sacked government be detained for their role in the secession drive.The Supreme Court could also decide to place Forcadell and the former lawmakers in pre-trial detention.Forcadell’s spokesman told reporters that as Catalan parliamentary speaker she didn’t “have the freedom to stop a vote” in the chamber on independence.Outside the court a small group of protesters gathered, holding banners against independence.There were also a handful of separatist supporters, facing opposition cries of “Jail for Puigdemont!”Puigdemont and four former Catalan ministers are in self-imposed exile in Belgium and are due to appear before a judge next week after Madrid issued a EU-wide warrant for their extradition.The 54-year-old deposed leader has ignored a summons to appear before a judge in Madrid, saying he wants guarantees that he will receive a fair trial.His presence in the European capital has raised some fears of stoking communal tensions in Belgium after Flemish separatists in the ruling coalition there spoke out in support of Catalan independence.European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker, who was in Spain yesterday, said that the bloc was “against any form of separatism that weakens Europe”.Despite the crisis, the EU upgraded yesterday its growth forecast for Spain to a robust 3.1% for this year, leading the eurozone’s major economies.The charges faced by former Catalan leaders carry up to 30 years in jail.Puigdemont, in a letter to the Catalan daily El Punt Avui yesterday, called for “the liberation of political prisoners held by the Spanish state”.Amnesty International however said on Twitter that the jailed ministers could not be considered “political prisoners ... as they are accused of acts that may constitute a criminal offence”.Catalonia, a region of 7.5mn people that accounts for one-fifth of Spain’s GDP, is deeply divided over independence.